When making new jets, they make several prototypes that compete, each with an ascending number. The one that wins is redesignated from 'yf-__' to 'f-__'. For example the yf22 and yf23 competed for the advanced fighter program, the yf22 won and became the f22.
Some of the numbers are pulled out of their ass. They sometimes start with a number for whatever reason, then each major change to the prototype ascends the number. 2 seater is usually for ground attack, bombardier sits in back, watch top gun maverick.
This is correct. Many jets go through design iterations and only a select few make it to the final testing and selection phase. There may have been F24's and 25's that never saw testing and selection because they didn't pass minimum criteria or because of a more benign reason - The 35 moniker was actually a mistake! "The F-35 began as the experimental X-35 (its competitor being the Boeing X-32). Rumor has it, in the press conference where the X-35 was announced as the winner of the JSF competition, some politician who didn’t know better was asked what the designation of the new aircraft would be. He simply replied “F-35”. Rather than correct his mistake, Lockheed Martin doubled down and accepted the out-of-sequence designation F-35.
@@CostMeALeg What? Two-seaters didn't even *start out* as ground attack. Most two-seaters were interceptors (S.O.4050, F-4, F-14, etc.) before eventually becoming ground attackers. Using Top Gun Maverick as an example is... very silly. In the movie, they use both the F/A-18E and F variants, with the E being single-seat, and the F being tandem. Both can do ground attack- Maverick himself solos the Paveway drop in the movie. Before that, you had the A, B, C and D variants. The A and B are irrelevant, but the C and D are my main focus; yet again, both are ground attack, but the D was specifically made for the Marine Corps as an interceptor, meaning the man in the back was a 'RIO' (Radar Intercept Officer) in Navy speak, who launches Fox-1 (Semi-Active Radar Homing) and Fox-3 (Active Radar Homing) missiles. So, no. Two-seaters *aren't* usually ground attack, that's a relatively new trend in the Military Aeronautics industry.
1:45 This is probably going to be an entire encyclopedia of an answer, but here goes. The numeral designation is supposed to be the sequential order the type of plane was ordered for production. So for example P-38 means the thirty-eighth aircraft of the pursuit type (Pursuit being the US army's term for fighter between 1926-1948, afterwards it changed to F). By the 1960's the numerical designations were getting pretty high (B-70, F-111, C-130, ect), plus the Navy and Marine corp had their own designation systems, and there was very little standardization across the military branches. So in 1962 in order to make cross-branch logistics easier a number of active use Navy and Marine planes were given Air Force designations (FJ Fury became F-1 Fury, F4H Phantom II became F-4 Phantom II, A2F Intruder became A-6 Intruder, F3D Skyknight became F-10 Skyknight, and so on) and from then on all plane types regardless of service would be given the same numerical sequence. (Though it has been messed with a bit since we got into the 2000's, but I'll get to that in a minute.) F-112 through F-116 were used for captured soviet planes flown for testing and evaluation. The F-117 stealth fighter's designation was sliped in right here to avoid drawing attention on documents. The F-118 was a 90's technology demonstrator from Boeing that would be developed into the X-45 UCAV. There's one more distinction I have to make. If a plane has an X prefix that means it is an experimental technology demonstrator and most likely won't be ordered for serial production. If it has a Y prefix that means it is a prototype and they're still working out the bugs. Lastly F/A was a designation for multirole fighters that was used in the 90's and early 2000's, but it has since fallen out of favor. So with all that out of the way I can finally answer your question. The YF-17 was a rival design to the then YF-16. The F-16 obviously got the contract, but around the same time the Navy was looking for a new multirole fighter and really liked the YF-17, so they had it modified for carrier operations and it became the F-18. F-19 was skipped and there's still a lot of debate why; some believe it was a black project that never saw the light of day, some think it was the original designation for the F-117, and some say it was because Northrop insisted their YF-20 get an even number to sound less like a Soviet plane. Speaking of which, the YF-20 was an F-5 Tiger II updated with a new engine and 80's tech and planned to be sold as a low-cost export fighter, but ultimately the F-16 beat it in sales and only three planes were ever built. The F-21 was thirty-three Israeli IFI Kfir fighters leased to the Navy's Top Gun in the 80's to help train their pilots in dogfighting. Then we have the F-22 and it's legendary rivalry with the YF-23. Now this is where things get interesting. The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program was originally just pair of technology demonstrators called X-32 and X-35. Had the US military followed the naming convention it would've received the designation F-24 when it began production, however the press mislabled the X-35 as F-35, and before you knew it everyone and their dog was calling it that and the name just sort of stuck. And finally B-21 apparently stands for "21st century Bomber" for some bizarre reason (most likely a PR stunt).
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@@saplingthrasher23 "F-112 through F-118 were used for captured soviet planes flown for testing and evaluation. The F-117 stealth fighter's designation was sliped in right here to avoid drawing attention on documents."
Second seat in an F18 would be for the WSO or the Weapons Systems Operator (as glorified in the new Top Gun: Maverick movie) - they're handy for advanced targeting and sensor applications and leave the pilot to handle all the pilot duties. It's why the F35 is so good because of all of the advances in computing doing a lot of that WSO lifting for the pilot so they can focus on flying
The aircraft you asked about with the big dome on it is The Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye is an American all-weather, carrier-capable tactical airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft. The latest variant of it is the E-2D. The latest E-2 version is the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, which features an entirely new avionics suite including the new AN/APY-9 radar, radio suite, mission computer, integrated satellite communications, flight management system, improved T56-A-427A engines, a glass cockpit and aerial refueling. The APY-9 radar features an active electronically scanned array (AESA), which adds electronic scanning to the mechanical rotation of the radar in its radome. The E-2D includes provisions for the copilot to act as a "Tactical 4th Operator" (T4O), who can reconfigure his main cockpit display to show radar, IFF, Link 16 (JTIDS)/CEC and access all acquired data. The E-2D's first flight occurred on 3 August 2007. The aircraft is operated by a crew of five, with the pilot and co-pilot on the flight deck and the combat information center officer, air control officer and radar operator stations located in the rear fuselage directly beneath the rotodome. So basically, it has a massive radar that allows them to see what's going on over great distances. They can track lots of targets and direct friendly fighters to the targets, or even control missile fired from say, a US Navy ship, to hit a target that is beyond that ships ability to see.
Another aircraft that is gonna go along side it's roll is the f35 as it can act as a mini awacs which is actually extremely good in heavily air defended areas since it can't be shot down as easily and also it can free up space on the aircraft carrier but the hawk eye is still be the backbone awacs for the navy for the years to come
Fighter jets can have a lot of weapons below the wing because Low pressure, High Velocity across the top. High pressure, low velocity across the bottom . You need more airflow across the top of the wing and less across the bottom to create lift. Nowadays, with thrust vectoring and thrust to weight ratios greater than 1:1 the amount of munitions these things can carry is insane.
From what I gathered the F18 to the F22 are in service American Jets. the F19 was designed on the F117 but was skipped in choice of the Northrop F20. The F20 was cancelled after a while and the F21 is made for india. The F22 is for the US
We have almost the entire alphabet used for our air assets: A: attack B: bomber C: cargo/logistical E: electronic warfare F: fighter H: helicopter K: fuel tanker O: observation Q: drones R: reconnaissance T: training variant U: Utility X: experimental Y: production experimental Pretty sure I missed a few, but you get the idea. Can also mix and match the designations like F/A for birds like the Hornet that are both Fighter and ground attack capable, and the E-18 G which is the electronic warfare version of the Hornet called the Growler and that bird will ruin anyone’s day if they work with radar of any kind. The seat in back on jets that have them are usually for the operation of equipment like radios, radar operator, camera equipment and other things so that the pilot can focus on flying and also act as a second set of eyes. And the B-21 Raider is a whole other beast compared to the B-2 Spirit. And it’s pronounced as twenty one for that bird, if it were an improved B-2 it would have a letter designation behind the numbers to indicate the improved abilities, example: F-15A, B, C, D, E. You treat new letters kind like the new year model of a car since the new one has better “options” and abilities over the previous years model. For example: the F/A-18 E is 25% larger than the prior C and D version, has the diamond shaped intakes to reduce its RCS on radar, has 1 extra weapons pylon on each wing, holds more fuel and has more improvements over the previous versions. Nerdgasm ended. 😅
Hey Luke, you got one more teen series fighter to check out… the F-14 Tomcat. Even though it’s been retired since I think since 2006, it’s still a worthy and legendary aircraft. Iran still flys the F-14, though they have no access to spare parts. I remember you’d like to check out aircraft from all the generations. One good section of aircraft history you should check out from the US is the “century series” aircraft. (F-100 Super Sabre, F-101 Voodoo, F-102 Delta Dagger, Republic XF-103 [never made it past mock-up stage], F-104 Starfighter, F-105 Thunderchief, F-106 Delta Dart, F-107 “Ultra Sabre” [radically redesigned Super Sabre, was beaten in competition by the F-105], The F-108 Rapier [proposed Mach 3 interceptor, was cancelled because of estimated high costs noted by president Dwight D. Eisenhower]. Super impsrtant aircraft for the history of the U.S. Air Force. Would also really like to see some more Found and Explained soon! To what I can answer your question about the number designations, I’d have to look up on it, but I can tell ya this. There’s no “F-13” bc 13 is considered an unlucky number in the west, and I guess the military agrees with that as well. When stealth was still in its infancy and rumors, the public did refer to the “F-19” as a rumored stealth aircraft. The Northrop F-20 Tigershark is a highly modernized Northrop F-5 Freedom Fighter/Tiger II. The F-21 was for a proposed version of the F-16 for India.
Last proposed Tomcat design before the F-14’s total retirement would’ve outclassed even the Super hornet as a Multirole aircraft, with modern avionics and computing systems. Sadly the F/A-18 suffered from the same issue the F-35 is right now, being way over hyped by is manufacturer and being way obsessed over. The F/A-18’s have already started to show their problems and age even though the Super Hornets are relatively new. The Final Proposed Tomcat design would’ve done all what the modern Hornets could do, while keeping the Tomcats long proven airframe, and dominant Air to Air combat and fleet defense role.
@@Milkywayboy As I said, the proposed F-14 wasn’t given the time to even get off the blueprints, and the Navy had the exact same issue the USAF, Navy again, and USMC all have with the F-35 today, blind obsession with it and not looking at the better I took long term, not giving other projects the time to develop. Now the F/A-18 is causing problems and parts are wearing down incredibly fast for them due to how the Navy has been using them
@@yeeters2347 Just like how the F-23 would have been super-magical-crazy-superior to the F-22, right? Thing is, we have no actual proof that the proposed F-14 update would have been any better at all. Because all we have to go on was what it was 'supposed' to do. What it was advertised as. There is no concrete proof of what it actually would have become. Hypothetical stats and attributes are just that. So, ~hypothetically~ , the proposed F-4 update ~might~ have been better. We cannot know for sure and we never will.
Royal Marines using big words, that's like a US Marine using big words. It's not advisable lol for the butthurt people, I'm a US Marine Vet much love man, love your videos
@@rollomaughfling380 never said I was a Marine. I was a Submariner MM3 . Operation Eldorado Canyon etc. look up USS Dallas. I won’t say “ I appreciate your service” you can count on it I Do!
You being a spec opp's Guy I'm guessing The A-10 was possibly one of your first jet vids? I really like your vids + Your different style. Really respect you also being honest at times saying you know little about certain things. Not a lot of ppl these days are as candid or real as you are! & just saying when you said "The F-11 what is it the aHdVahk" lol!! I'm born & bread Bostonian & you NAILED The Boston accent on that! Dual seats are sometimes for training but more times like the case of F-14 it was so complex & advanced a "backseater" was needed. Known as "Rio's" or radar intercept officer, Pilot flies, Rio is busy on the radar "scopes" looking and tracking targets and applying electronic countermeasures. In an area that they didn't have 100% air superiority the Rio would also be highly aware of potential s.a.m. sights and launches. When it comes to s.a.m.'s, you really can't have too many sets of eyes scanning. An awesome video suggestion for you is a well known video of F-16's I believe? It was Iraq, but don't hold me to that as I'm just writing this I'll Google it after. Multiple F-16's (maybe an entire squadron?) Were ingressing their targets when they got LIT up by s.a.m.'s & A.a.a. The "hud" footage has been public for a while. 1 specific F-16 was engaged by like 3 separate surface to air missles. That video very much shows the intricacies of what a pilot goes through, how incredibly physical it is + how much stress it puts on a human body to be pulling 9+ G's repeatedly. I won't reveal the ending I really think yourself + your audience would like to see you do a video on that. I'll Google it & drop more info should you choose to cover it. I appreciate you Bro!! Your positive. You have a respectable, unique background & Your yourself. You don't hop on here to "play a part" like soooo many do. T.Y. Thank You for your service. Please keep doing what your doing! - Brian Damn, My bad!! It was 6!!! The video I was referring too the 1 specific jet was tageted 6 times by launched, in flight, actively seeking surface to air missles!! The video by Sandbox News, imo is the best but there are many related to the same engagement.
If you make the thrust to weight ratio good enough, you can even make bricks fly.... I think I heard that there was an F15 missing its right wing, but it was still able to get back and land because the ratio was so high.
Israel training mission collision. The wing was GONE. Manufacturer went over and they thought it was a ground collision. The pilot said if you got enough power like a rocket you don't need wings. True story video is on yt
My guess is as more F-35Cs join carrier air wings, the air to air mission will be taken and the Super Hornets will be more dedicated ground attack birds
IRST isn't a data-link system. It's a infrared targeting system to lock weapons using an IR signature instead of just relying on a radar lock. It's a sort of secondary system at medium to short range to target potential threats, where in certain situations it can be better than radar tracking since it's more difficult to jam an IRST scanner or the similar EODAS on the F-35. Most newer 4th gens have them equipped standard, but F-22 never got one since IRST tech wasn't as capable when F-22 was designed and was deemed unimportant for F-22's role.
Su-27 Flankers and variants like the Su-30, Su-33, and J-11 all have IRST systems as standard. It was one of the only areas where Russian fighters had the advantage on American fighters. It allowed them to operate with radars turned off, and they could lock and fire short and medium ranged IR guided missiles like the R-73 and R-27T/ET without being detected, an early form of stealth. The F-22 was also capable of firing weapons with radar turned off, but required friendly aircraft to transmit radar information via datalink.
The E variant singe seat plays mainly an air superiority/ interceptor position whereas the F variant double seater plays more of the attacker/CAS role. Saw a couple E variants come in for a landing at my local airport a couple weeks ago. I could tell because they flew so low in their approach that I could see each one manned by one pilot. You could hear those afterburners at the other end of the metropolitan area for sure! 🤘🇺🇸
The aircraft you pointed out @9:17 is the E-2C Hawkeye. It's the USN version of AWACS (Airborne Warning And Control System), similar to what the USAF has with the E-3. The twin seat (family model) is designed to seat a WSO (Weapon Systems Officer). Their job to handle radar, electronic warfare, and weapons. Back in the days of the Tomcat, it was called a RIO (Radar Intercept Officer). If you've watched Topgun: Maverick, that would be BOB's role in the jet. As far as jet fuel. a Super Carrier hold in excess of 1 million gallons.
The second seat in fighters/fighter-bombers is for Weapons Officer....it allows the pilot to focus on flying/navigation/achieving the target, while leaving his brain free for the weapons officer to deal with delivering payloads on target. Usually for Air to Surface munitions...Air to Air / dog-fighting and related weapons is still usually the pilot's realm.
The other plane behind the chopper looks like a small version of an AWACS (Hawkeye) used for early warning and situational awareness and communication during missions or strike group protection
Actually there was a Grumman F-21 Super Tomcat Advance Strike Fighter. But the secretary of the Navy killed it before they could make the first prototype. Imagine a Tomcat with a single bubble canopy, the same engines the Raptor has, and a all digital fly by wire system, completely upgrade with a AESA Radar system, all the upgrades of the Super Hornet but longer range and Super cruise plus the AIM 54D. E-2 HAWKEYE Early warning system. It is a Navy Airborn radar system.
At 14:34 they can still add that option but the general didn't choose that option but they can still add it on later if wanted to since it is a plug and play hardware.
My brother in christ, you haven't done the coolest one. The F-14 Tomcat. Also, with the question on the numbering, look up the 1962 US Tri-Service aircraft designation system. They wanted to consolidate numbering. In regards to the 1 or 2 seat question, the second seat on older planes like the F-14 had RIOs. Radar Intercept Officers. They took the workload off of the pilot. They controlled the radar, they find targets, they track targets, and the pilot fires the missile. The newer planes like the F/A-18F has a WSO. Weapons System Officer. They also take the workload off of the pilot. They control weapons systems and electronic warfare systems
Aircraft with big dish on top is an E -2 C Hawkeye E - Electronic C - Countermeasures it"s up there directing the fighters as to who else is out there. An eye in the sky.
In regard to the touch screen/knob discussion, keep in mind these young aviators have grown up playing video games and are very good at touch screens. In fact, being good at computer games are considered an asset for aviators.
My grandfather used to fly these for the navy. He was also the FIRST PERSON ever to fire a sidewinder missle from a aircraft. He had a certificate trophy for doing it as well.
From what I’ve heard the majority of new non-logistic military aircraft will be “optionally manned” meaning they could be piloted both remotely like a drone or by a person in the seat.
I start my day with your videos. I like listening to you brother. You are a cool and funny guy. Than you. Aaron: Vermont 🇺🇸 Ps. Thanks for mentioning your mental health post military challenges 🙏
A single-seat fighter jet is a combat aircraft that has only one cockpit for one pilot, while a two-seat fighter jet is a combat aircraft that has two cockpits for two crew members. The difference between them depends on the role and design of the fighter jet. That what is it you circled on deck is an AWACS.
I was on the USS Theodore Roosevelt CVN-71 for 3 years, we carried 4 million gallons of JP-5, besides using it for the planes and helos, it was used for ballast.
There was an F20 it was basically an F5 with a F16 engine and Avionics. When aircraft are being developed they are usually given the YF designator. During it's development the F18 was actually called the YF 17.
if im not mistaken, older jets have two seats because the workload of flying and handeling the weapons was to high for one person. In newer jets computers do much of the work, that's why you don't see modern two seaters anymore. At least that's my guess
That’s the reason man. I remember when I was obsessed with being a pilot I always wanted to be the gunner. Now computers do that job and the pilots also have some advanced HUDs built into their helmets you don’t need that second pilot anymore.
All Navy aircraft have folding wings and blades for space savings on the Carrier. the second seat depends on mission. takes some work load off the pilot, helps in combat theater awareness.
There was the F-4, F-5,F-14, F-15,F-16,F-18,F-22,F-111,F-117,F-35. The B-21 doesn’t mean it’s an upgrade from the B-2. The F-18 2 seater is used for the weapons officer, just like the F-15. On the F-16 the second seat is for training purposes.
Numbering of aircraft stared before WWII. P-40, P-47, P-51. P for Pursuit evolved into F for fighter. Numbers kept going up to F-100 starting the century series. F-111 was near the end and F-117 was the end. The numbering system for all aircraft went back to '1'. The YF-17 combined the attack role with fighter into the F/A-18. The F-19 was a filled to deceive the USSR with the F-117. The F-20 Tigershark was an F-5 with the F-16 engine and avionics. The F-21 was the Israeli Kfir. then the YF-22 and YF-23 contest lead to the F-22. The F-35 skips numbers, coming from the X-35 from the X-series of aircraft. Bombers went from B-70 to B-1, then B-2. The B-21 skipped 3 to 20, as the first bomber of the 21st Century, B-21 The A for Attack has died off due to the many multi-role fighters.
What you were circling with your mouse on the aircraft carrier deck is what they call the E-2D Hawkeye, early warning aircraft, their whole mission is to fly around and designate targets for carrier, strike packages and do early warning for the aircraft carrier. Beyond is own radar to track threats that could possibly harm the fleet… so they designate targets for the F/A-18’s and the F-35C’s to destroy or further identify.
Some fighter designs never get produced, but they are assigned a number. You only see the aircraft that make it to production, so some numbers will be skipped over.
My understanding is that in high intensity contact the pilots is focused on flying be it aggression or evasive and the rear seat can focus on radar aerial or ground contact and engagement bombing ect
@@icemanxidkp EWOs are in EA-18G Growler which is the electronics warfare version of the super hornet while normal super hornets have a Weapom Systems Officers WSO
"X" stands for "Experimental", and, when the DoD asks for prototypes, they get an "X" number. They usually keep that number, even if that airframe is not chosen. But don't let it confuse you; the F-111 wasn't even a fighter, as it was designated as fighter to confuse the Soviets. Same with the F-117 Blackhawk.
React to the f14 tomcat next , the only aircraft that was able to beat the f15 most of the time. Also prototypes are not designated F, they are designated Ys. 2 seats are used for the 2nd person taking over radar and electronics if its a electronic warfare .Single seat can do the same things but its more stress on the pilot.
If I remember correctly, the FA-18 Hornet (YF-17) was the fighter that competed with the F-16 (YF-16) for the Air Force contract back in the 70s. BTW, I just checked and yeah, I was alive back then.😄
12:10 you're talking about the Datalink system, which was already present in the base F/A-18 before the super hornet upgrades, these systems are expansions onto the hornets avionics systems which indirectly upgrade it's datalink capabilities
Mate.. it’s by class and service. So the navy has their sequence of numbers. The Air Force has its numbering sequence as well. Depend on the mission tactics, bombers and joint. So that’s where the numbering comes from.. Dual seats means there’s a Rio or rear gunner and weapons officer, the pilot is responsible for shooting, the rear(Rio) picks and locks the targets so the pilot can fly and shoot
You watched TFE explain how these birds can fly while being loaded. The more thrust you have, the less lift you need. So you're basically pushing the plane forward/up the wings just help with lift upon takeoff
The munitions hung under the wing are not impeding the air flow to the wings lifting surface, the photo (at time stamp 05:58) shows the flaps in the down position giving the appearance there is zero air flow.
I also don't like how everything's becoming touch screen/digital (Like you said, in cars for the info displays), I like having the physical button or knob there since 1) You know where it is as you said, 2) It's faster to get to and 3) You won't miss when going over like a bump or smth. Feel like it's the same way in a plane, imagine being under any amount of G and trying to tap on a touch screen.. I miss buttons more than enough times on my phone, would hate to do it in a jet LOL
You forgot the F-117 which was actually a bomber. The second seat is for the weapons system operator, he operates the laser designator. And the our aircraft carriers have 2 nuclear reactors.... they refuel once every 30 years
So before they made the F-22 it was called the YF-22. They also were looking at the YF-23. So from what i understand once they use those number even if they never build them the number will not be used again for a certain number of years.
The F-104 is a fairly mean fighter. Mean as in it looks like it's a danger to everyone around it and when it was exported to European NATO nations, it got the nickname, "The Widowmaker." That moniker was not in reference to any kind of engagements the pilots got into with enemies, but about the pilots themselves. If you want an absolute historic legend to look at, look into John Paul Stapp. He's a guy who was pretty nuts in his own right, but he got things done for the better.
They basicly restarted the numbering system for fighter aircraft back in the early 1960s. The F-4 Phantom was originally meant to be the F-110 Spectre. I believe the last P-series (Pursuit) might have been the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star which served in the Korean war and was redesignated F-80 in service. All the F-100s were the start of the supersonic era of aircraft beginning with the F-100 Sabre. Of course, the F-117 Nighthawk is the last to use the century series numbering system but that was only to hide its actual purpose as the first stealth bomber. The F-111 Aardvark was the last actual fighter to use the system. Why did the F-35 break the current numbering system? No clear answer was ever given that made sense to me. I hear that even Lockheed was referring to it internally as the F-24 prior to it being given the F-35 designation. I read once that it was because of the extensive leap in technology that the F-35 represented. But so will every other aircraft that will come after it including the NGAD and the Navy's FA-XX. This also ignores just how much of a leap the F-22 was and it laid the groundwork both in new capabilities they wanted to pursue along with what issues to avoid for the F-35 (like the F-22 not being modularly upgradeable.) That seems like a weak reason to jump the numbering system. Anyway, the F/A-18 Hornet was originally the YF-17 and lost the USAF pick to the YF-16. The Navy wasn't happy with the single-engine F-16 and chose the YF-17 instead. I feel the F/A-18 might be one of the most underappreciated workhorses in service.
Way back in the 1960s it was decided that US Military aircraft were to be numbered consecutively according to their mission code. For example the X-35 should have become the F-24 once it was accepted for service, since that was the next available designation number for fighter craft, instead it became the F-35. Most planes follow the designation system but sometimes you get outliers like the F-117, SR-71 and KC-767. Usually a designer's reason for not using the next designation number is tied to the plane itself, like if it's based off a civilian aircraft or something like that. You can find out more if you look up the 'Tri-Service aircraft Designation System'
As far as the numbers go the f designation comes after a slue of prototypes. The reason the f111 and f117 are that is before they were commissioned before macnamara decided to reset it when he forced the air force and navy to standardise.
There were proto types in between each fighter or bomber before an individual number plane was actually chosen to go active. 90% maybe 2 or 3 were developed and hit dead ends at various stages. Either requirements of the AC changed or they developed air stream problems at certain speeds or control problems, weapon delivery problems. They get shit canned, chopped up and destroyed. Sometimes the take certain models like the F5 and some major changes occur and they become a different variant of the base aircraft but totally different in characteristics and purpose of service. Chase planes for NASA, Hurricane plane. Depending the severity of changes the modex can change for difference branch uses. F4 B F4 J F4 N F4 S and RF4 -B are all Navy requirements so they are built for Navy carrier usage. F4 C F4 D F4 E and on are Air Force variants. But when they go outsid of military use, the change designation and have different uses. NOA, NASA , CIA, and on and on. They have stuff built we won’t know about for 30 more years. It truly is unbelievable the Black Programs that exist.
F-12 would have been used if the prototype YF-12 interceptor variant of the A-12 pre-Blackbird F-13 wasn't used because of superstition. F-17 designation is missing in the fleet is a result of the aircraft's transformation into the F/A-18 F-19 is a skipped designation, in favor of F-20 for the Northrop F-5G Tiger shark at Northrop’s request to avoid confusion with the Soviet MiG-19. Project was abandoned in 1986. F-20 did not achieve sales success because the USAF wasn't interested to begin with. F-21 is a variant of the F-16 designed for the Indian Air Force F-23 would have been used if the Northrop YF-23 won the ATF "Advanced Tactical Fighter" program
All US Military planes are in the same number sequence per Generation or family. The F100 seris was established the same time period as f101, f105 etc. Considered Gen 3. USAF. The F4,A4 ,A3, F8, ETC Us Navy, , The Gen 4 F15, F16 USAF, F/14, F/A18 US NAVY. The reason there is gaps in the numbers between the different generations is because there were numbers given to competing aircraft before one was selected. The F-16 was in competition with the f-17 to see which aircraft the Air Force wanted. F35 is the outlier. Bombers B1, B2 outlier B52 F-Fighter A Attack F/A Fighter/Attack B- Bomber EA electronic attack The letters at the end of the numbers are the different series of that aircraft. F/18 E/F super is the only 2seat. The block on the end is upgraded mod
Two pilots simply splits the load of duties. Especially helpfull for strike or CAP missions where one pilot can focuse on flying whilst the other can look for ground targets with the targeting pod. Not an easy task when working on a ever changing battlefeild. The MIG 21 Fishbed would be worth taking a gander, Solid aircraft from vietnam era used world wide even still today.
The jets are designated by mission design and series. For instance an F-16D is a fighter of the 16th design series D. Some jets don't make it to production hence the skip in numbers. The YF-23 Blackwidow would've became the F-23 had it beat out the Raptor and there would've been no F-22.
F/A means fighter/ attack. The F-111 was a Navy product the didnt work to well for them. It has be used as a bomber in lybia. A radar jammer in iraq E/F111. Terrain following radar and fast as all hell. The is a video on TH-cam if you look up air war in iraq. Great stuff. Oh the personin the back of the FA 18 takes care of the search and track and helps employ the weapons.
1:45 You can actually watch a video called "Aircraft Designations Explained" by Not What You Think. Just a little suggestion if you wanna learn what (almost) every letter means on aircrafts
Thats an AWAC plane. It's like a flying info distributor. That disk on the top is radar of some type. Just saw the other day that they're about to retire the AWAC planes for something better.
So the 2 seat versions are used for 2 things training and Electronic warfare in a dedicated version called the Growler. And with there full load out i would not call it flying as there just using there 2 giant turbines to beat the air into submission. And there are around 75 fighters on board a carrier mostly Super hornets but they are starting to receive f-35's
the hornets are divided into two distinct forms The legacy hornet Which is the A/B/C/D variants and the Super hornet which is the E/F sometimes also called the rhino because of a protrusion on the underside of the jet that is unique to the Super hornet. Two seats allows the WSO who sits behind the pilot to keep constant tabs on his screens for battle space awareness and control the ground strike weapons and the targeting pod while the pilot fly's the plane and can worry about air targets. The plane with the dome on it is a E-2 Hawkeye the dome visible is a 360 degree sweep radar to control aircraft and alert them of incoming threats and electronic warfare. The block 3 touch screen is built for future upgrade and integration ability to add new apps. You have to do a video on the electronic warfare version of the hornet the EA-18G Growler which can jam radar.
When making new jets, they make several prototypes that compete, each with an ascending number. The one that wins is redesignated from 'yf-__' to 'f-__'. For example the yf22 and yf23 competed for the advanced fighter program, the yf22 won and became the f22.
right. they are just sequential design numbers. They don't all make the grade so to speak. they started back in the 60s I believe.
Some of the numbers are pulled out of their ass.
They sometimes start with a number for whatever reason, then each major change to the prototype ascends the number.
2 seater is usually for ground attack, bombardier sits in back, watch top gun maverick.
This is correct. Many jets go through design iterations and only a select few make it to the final testing and selection phase. There may have been F24's and 25's that never saw testing and selection because they didn't pass minimum criteria or because of a more benign reason - The 35 moniker was actually a mistake! "The F-35 began as the experimental X-35 (its competitor being the Boeing X-32). Rumor has it, in the press conference where the X-35 was announced as the winner of the JSF competition, some politician who didn’t know better was asked what the designation of the new aircraft would be. He simply replied “F-35”. Rather than correct his mistake, Lockheed Martin doubled down and accepted the out-of-sequence designation F-35.
Thanks for the knowledge brothers I always wondered about that myself
@@CostMeALeg What? Two-seaters didn't even *start out* as ground attack. Most two-seaters were interceptors (S.O.4050, F-4, F-14, etc.) before eventually becoming ground attackers. Using Top Gun Maverick as an example is... very silly. In the movie, they use both the F/A-18E and F variants, with the E being single-seat, and the F being tandem. Both can do ground attack- Maverick himself solos the Paveway drop in the movie. Before that, you had the A, B, C and D variants. The A and B are irrelevant, but the C and D are my main focus; yet again, both are ground attack, but the D was specifically made for the Marine Corps as an interceptor, meaning the man in the back was a 'RIO' (Radar Intercept Officer) in Navy speak, who launches Fox-1 (Semi-Active Radar Homing) and Fox-3 (Active Radar Homing) missiles.
So, no. Two-seaters *aren't* usually ground attack, that's a relatively new trend in the Military Aeronautics industry.
1:45 This is probably going to be an entire encyclopedia of an answer, but here goes. The numeral designation is supposed to be the sequential order the type of plane was ordered for production. So for example P-38 means the thirty-eighth aircraft of the pursuit type (Pursuit being the US army's term for fighter between 1926-1948, afterwards it changed to F).
By the 1960's the numerical designations were getting pretty high (B-70, F-111, C-130, ect), plus the Navy and Marine corp had their own designation systems, and there was very little standardization across the military branches. So in 1962 in order to make cross-branch logistics easier a number of active use Navy and Marine planes were given Air Force designations (FJ Fury became F-1 Fury, F4H Phantom II became F-4 Phantom II, A2F Intruder became A-6 Intruder, F3D Skyknight became F-10 Skyknight, and so on) and from then on all plane types regardless of service would be given the same numerical sequence. (Though it has been messed with a bit since we got into the 2000's, but I'll get to that in a minute.)
F-112 through F-116 were used for captured soviet planes flown for testing and evaluation. The F-117 stealth fighter's designation was sliped in right here to avoid drawing attention on documents. The F-118 was a 90's technology demonstrator from Boeing that would be developed into the X-45 UCAV.
There's one more distinction I have to make. If a plane has an X prefix that means it is an experimental technology demonstrator and most likely won't be ordered for serial production. If it has a Y prefix that means it is a prototype and they're still working out the bugs.
Lastly F/A was a designation for multirole fighters that was used in the 90's and early 2000's, but it has since fallen out of favor.
So with all that out of the way I can finally answer your question. The YF-17 was a rival design to the then YF-16. The F-16 obviously got the contract, but around the same time the Navy was looking for a new multirole fighter and really liked the YF-17, so they had it modified for carrier operations and it became the F-18.
F-19 was skipped and there's still a lot of debate why; some believe it was a black project that never saw the light of day, some think it was the original designation for the F-117, and some say it was because Northrop insisted their YF-20 get an even number to sound less like a Soviet plane.
Speaking of which, the YF-20 was an F-5 Tiger II updated with a new engine and 80's tech and planned to be sold as a low-cost export fighter, but ultimately the F-16 beat it in sales and only three planes were ever built.
The F-21 was thirty-three Israeli IFI Kfir fighters leased to the Navy's Top Gun in the 80's to help train their pilots in dogfighting.
Then we have the F-22 and it's legendary rivalry with the YF-23.
Now this is where things get interesting. The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program was originally just pair of technology demonstrators called X-32 and X-35. Had the US military followed the naming convention it would've received the designation F-24 when it began production, however the press mislabled the X-35 as F-35, and before you knew it everyone and their dog was calling it that and the name just sort of stuck.
And finally B-21 apparently stands for "21st century Bomber" for some bizarre reason (most likely a PR stunt).
Definitely a pr stunt on the B-21 as it had a huge reveal with fog machines and light and lasers like it was a concert.
Oh my word you awesome person YOU😯❣️. THAT my darlin, encyclopedia or not, was absolutely THE most amazing 🤩 thing that I have read on the Internet, I promise 🙏🏻, my word at least in the last few months, so THANK YOU, you precious one for such amazing information and presented in a way that was not only interesting, but captivating as well by your style of narrating. You should be a teacher shug cause you would make a great 👍 one🤩❣️. Wherever, and whoever ya are, again puddin, thank you, and I hope ya have a wonder-filled rest of yer week 😁🙏🏻❣️
Very helpful and yea thank you
Why was the F-117 designed and put into service before the F-22 is what confuses me the most. Both are Airforce jets.🤔
@@saplingthrasher23 "F-112 through F-118 were used for captured soviet planes flown for testing and evaluation. The F-117 stealth fighter's designation was sliped in right here to avoid drawing attention on documents."
Second seat in an F18 would be for the WSO or the Weapons Systems Operator (as glorified in the new Top Gun: Maverick movie) - they're handy for advanced targeting and sensor applications and leave the pilot to handle all the pilot duties. It's why the F35 is so good because of all of the advances in computing doing a lot of that WSO lifting for the pilot so they can focus on flying
The aircraft you asked about with the big dome on it is The Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye is an American all-weather, carrier-capable tactical airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft. The latest variant of it is the E-2D.
The latest E-2 version is the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, which features an entirely new avionics suite including the new AN/APY-9 radar, radio suite, mission computer, integrated satellite communications, flight management system, improved T56-A-427A engines, a glass cockpit and aerial refueling. The APY-9 radar features an active electronically scanned array (AESA), which adds electronic scanning to the mechanical rotation of the radar in its radome. The E-2D includes provisions for the copilot to act as a "Tactical 4th Operator" (T4O), who can reconfigure his main cockpit display to show radar, IFF, Link 16 (JTIDS)/CEC and access all acquired data. The E-2D's first flight occurred on 3 August 2007. The aircraft is operated by a crew of five, with the pilot and co-pilot on the flight deck and the combat information center officer, air control officer and radar operator stations located in the rear fuselage directly beneath the rotodome.
So basically, it has a massive radar that allows them to see what's going on over great distances. They can track lots of targets and direct friendly fighters to the targets, or even control missile fired from say, a US Navy ship, to hit a target that is beyond that ships ability to see.
Another aircraft that is gonna go along side it's roll is the f35 as it can act as a mini awacs which is actually extremely good in heavily air defended areas since it can't be shot down as easily and also it can free up space on the aircraft carrier but the hawk eye is still be the backbone awacs for the navy for the years to come
You should look into the AWACS aircraft. They keep mentioning the network of networks but the heart of it is usually the awacs craft nearby.
When there are two seats typically one focuses on piloting the aircraft and the other is typically a systems/weapons officer.
Fighter jets can have a lot of weapons below the wing because Low pressure, High Velocity across the top. High pressure, low velocity across the bottom . You need more airflow across the top of the wing and less across the bottom to create lift.
Nowadays, with thrust vectoring and thrust to weight ratios greater than 1:1 the amount of munitions these things can carry is insane.
From what I gathered the F18 to the F22 are in service American Jets. the F19 was designed on the F117 but was skipped in choice of the Northrop F20. The F20 was cancelled after a while and the F21 is made for india. The F22 is for the US
The F-21 is the Indian variant of the F-16, you are correct.
We have almost the entire alphabet used for our air assets:
A: attack
B: bomber
C: cargo/logistical
E: electronic warfare
F: fighter
H: helicopter
K: fuel tanker
O: observation
Q: drones
R: reconnaissance
T: training variant
U: Utility
X: experimental
Y: production experimental
Pretty sure I missed a few, but you get the idea. Can also mix and match the designations like F/A for birds like the Hornet that are both Fighter and ground attack capable, and the E-18 G which is the electronic warfare version of the Hornet called the Growler and that bird will ruin anyone’s day if they work with radar of any kind. The seat in back on jets that have them are usually for the operation of equipment like radios, radar operator, camera equipment and other things so that the pilot can focus on flying and also act as a second set of eyes. And the B-21 Raider is a whole other beast compared to the B-2 Spirit. And it’s pronounced as twenty one for that bird, if it were an improved B-2 it would have a letter designation behind the numbers to indicate the improved abilities, example: F-15A, B, C, D, E. You treat new letters kind like the new year model of a car since the new one has better “options” and abilities over the previous years model. For example: the F/A-18 E is 25% larger than the prior C and D version, has the diamond shaped intakes to reduce its RCS on radar, has 1 extra weapons pylon on each wing, holds more fuel and has more improvements over the previous versions.
Nerdgasm ended. 😅
Hey Luke, you got one more teen series fighter to check out… the F-14 Tomcat. Even though it’s been retired since I think since 2006, it’s still a worthy and legendary aircraft. Iran still flys the F-14, though they have no access to spare parts.
I remember you’d like to check out aircraft from all the generations. One good section of aircraft history you should check out from the US is the “century series” aircraft. (F-100 Super Sabre, F-101 Voodoo, F-102 Delta Dagger, Republic XF-103 [never made it past mock-up stage], F-104 Starfighter, F-105 Thunderchief, F-106 Delta Dart, F-107 “Ultra Sabre” [radically redesigned Super Sabre, was beaten in competition by the F-105], The F-108 Rapier [proposed Mach 3 interceptor, was cancelled because of estimated high costs noted by president Dwight D. Eisenhower].
Super impsrtant aircraft for the history of the U.S. Air Force.
Would also really like to see some more Found and Explained soon!
To what I can answer your question about the number designations, I’d have to look up on it, but I can tell ya this. There’s no “F-13” bc 13 is considered an unlucky number in the west, and I guess the military agrees with that as well. When stealth was still in its infancy and rumors, the public did refer to the “F-19” as a rumored stealth aircraft. The Northrop F-20 Tigershark is a highly modernized Northrop F-5 Freedom Fighter/Tiger II. The F-21 was for a proposed version of the F-16 for India.
It's about time. Lol. The Super Hornet is a workhorse for the US Navy and executes multiple rolls effectively.
Last proposed Tomcat design before the F-14’s total retirement would’ve outclassed even the Super hornet as a Multirole aircraft, with modern avionics and computing systems.
Sadly the F/A-18 suffered from the same issue the F-35 is right now, being way over hyped by is manufacturer and being way obsessed over.
The F/A-18’s have already started to show their problems and age even though the Super Hornets are relatively new.
The Final Proposed Tomcat design would’ve done all what the modern Hornets could do, while keeping the Tomcats long proven airframe, and dominant Air to Air combat and fleet defense role.
@@yeeters2347if what you are saying was true the tomcats would not have been replaced. But they were.
The F-18 must have been greater then the F-14
@@Milkywayboy
As I said, the proposed F-14 wasn’t given the time to even get off the blueprints, and the Navy had the exact same issue the USAF, Navy again, and USMC all have with the F-35 today, blind obsession with it and not looking at the better I took long term, not giving other projects the time to develop.
Now the F/A-18 is causing problems and parts are wearing down incredibly fast for them due to how the Navy has been using them
@@yeeters2347 Just like how the F-23 would have been super-magical-crazy-superior to the F-22, right? Thing is, we have no actual proof that the proposed F-14 update would have been any better at all. Because all we have to go on was what it was 'supposed' to do. What it was advertised as. There is no concrete proof of what it actually would have become. Hypothetical stats and attributes are just that. So, ~hypothetically~ , the proposed F-4 update ~might~ have been better. We cannot know for sure and we never will.
@@James_randomleters
The YF-23 was terrible, the F-22 was the far better decision, don’t worry I’m not one of those YF-23 hipsters
Royal Marines using big words, that's like a US Marine using big words. It's not advisable lol for the butthurt people, I'm a US Marine Vet much love man, love your videos
Simper Fi Bro!
@@frankscully3224 I joined the US Marine Corps 37 years ago. Never once seen an actual Marine butcher the spelling of "semper fi" like that. Not once.
@@rollomaughfling380 never said I was a Marine. I was a Submariner MM3 . Operation Eldorado Canyon etc. look up USS Dallas. I won’t say “ I appreciate your service” you can count on it I Do!
@@rollomaughfling380 not disrespecting you Man. Semper Fidelis.
You being a spec opp's Guy I'm guessing The A-10 was possibly one of your first jet vids? I really like your vids + Your different style. Really respect you also being honest at times saying you know little about certain things. Not a lot of ppl these days are as candid or real as you are! & just saying when you said "The F-11 what is it the aHdVahk" lol!! I'm born & bread Bostonian & you NAILED The Boston accent on that! Dual seats are sometimes for training but more times like the case of F-14 it was so complex & advanced a "backseater" was needed. Known as "Rio's" or radar intercept officer, Pilot flies, Rio is busy on the radar "scopes" looking and tracking targets and applying electronic countermeasures. In an area that they didn't have 100% air superiority the Rio would also be highly aware of potential s.a.m. sights and launches. When it comes to s.a.m.'s, you really can't have too many sets of eyes scanning. An awesome video suggestion for you is a well known video of F-16's I believe? It was Iraq, but don't hold me to that as I'm just writing this I'll Google it after. Multiple F-16's (maybe an entire squadron?) Were ingressing their targets when they got LIT up by s.a.m.'s & A.a.a. The "hud" footage has been public for a while. 1 specific F-16 was engaged by like 3 separate surface to air missles. That video very much shows the intricacies of what a pilot goes through, how incredibly physical it is + how much stress it puts on a human body to be pulling 9+ G's repeatedly. I won't reveal the ending I really think yourself + your audience would like to see you do a video on that. I'll Google it & drop more info should you choose to cover it. I appreciate you Bro!! Your positive. You have a respectable, unique background & Your yourself. You don't hop on here to "play a part" like soooo many do. T.Y. Thank You for your service. Please keep doing what your doing! - Brian
Damn, My bad!! It was 6!!! The video I was referring too the 1 specific jet was tageted 6 times by launched, in flight, actively seeking surface to air missles!! The video by Sandbox News, imo is the best but there are many related to the same engagement.
If you make the thrust to weight ratio good enough, you can even make bricks fly.... I think I heard that there was an F15 missing its right wing, but it was still able to get back and land because the ratio was so high.
There’s video too…that Eagle flew a mile with the wing GONE to land.🦅🦅
Israel training mission collision. The wing was GONE. Manufacturer went over and they thought it was a ground collision. The pilot said if you got enough power like a rocket you don't need wings. True story video is on yt
@@jimreilly917 it was 10 miles, but yes it flew with one wing.
@@bluflaam777 doh…I knew that 😁
My guess is as more F-35Cs join carrier air wings, the air to air mission will be taken and the Super Hornets will be more dedicated ground attack birds
IRST isn't a data-link system. It's a infrared targeting system to lock weapons using an IR signature instead of just relying on a radar lock. It's a sort of secondary system at medium to short range to target potential threats, where in certain situations it can be better than radar tracking since it's more difficult to jam an IRST scanner or the similar EODAS on the F-35. Most newer 4th gens have them equipped standard, but F-22 never got one since IRST tech wasn't as capable when F-22 was designed and was deemed unimportant for F-22's role.
Su-27 Flankers and variants like the Su-30, Su-33, and J-11 all have IRST systems as standard. It was one of the only areas where Russian fighters had the advantage on American fighters. It allowed them to operate with radars turned off, and they could lock and fire short and medium ranged IR guided missiles like the R-73 and R-27T/ET without being detected, an early form of stealth. The F-22 was also capable of firing weapons with radar turned off, but required friendly aircraft to transmit radar information via datalink.
He was talking about the SATCOM
The E variant singe seat plays mainly an air superiority/ interceptor position whereas the F variant double seater plays more of the attacker/CAS role. Saw a couple E variants come in for a landing at my local airport a couple weeks ago. I could tell because they flew so low in their approach that I could see each one manned by one pilot. You could hear those afterburners at the other end of the metropolitan area for sure! 🤘🇺🇸
The aircraft you pointed out @9:17 is the E-2C Hawkeye. It's the USN version of AWACS (Airborne Warning And Control System), similar to what the USAF has with the E-3.
The twin seat (family model) is designed to seat a WSO (Weapon Systems Officer). Their job to handle radar, electronic warfare, and weapons. Back in the days of the Tomcat, it was called a RIO (Radar Intercept Officer). If you've watched Topgun: Maverick, that would be BOB's role in the jet.
As far as jet fuel. a Super Carrier hold in excess of 1 million gallons.
The plane with the round dome on top is a AWACS.
The plane you circled on the deck is an AWACS aircraft.
Just an FYI, A CARRIER can carry 130 FA18s, during war time. But we usually carry about 85 to 90 mixed aircraft for strike group capabilities.
The second seat in fighters/fighter-bombers is for Weapons Officer....it allows the pilot to focus on flying/navigation/achieving the target, while leaving his brain free for the weapons officer to deal with delivering payloads on target. Usually for Air to Surface munitions...Air to Air / dog-fighting and related weapons is still usually the pilot's realm.
The other plane behind the chopper looks like a small version of an AWACS (Hawkeye) used for early warning and situational awareness and communication during missions or strike group protection
Actually there was a Grumman F-21 Super Tomcat Advance Strike Fighter. But the secretary of the Navy killed it before they could make the first prototype. Imagine a Tomcat with a single bubble canopy, the same engines the Raptor has, and a all digital fly by wire system, completely upgrade with a AESA Radar system, all the upgrades of the Super Hornet but longer range and Super cruise plus the AIM 54D. E-2 HAWKEYE Early warning system. It is a Navy Airborn radar system.
I was raised in Southeast Virginia which is home to Master Jet Base Oceania which houses these Super Hornets. Enjoy their Air Show every September.
Glad your channel is doin so good man
Old fashioned A/C for me was rolling down a window or opening a windwing!
At 14:34 they can still add that option but the general didn't choose that option but they can still add it on later if wanted to since it is a plug and play hardware.
My brother in christ, you haven't done the coolest one. The F-14 Tomcat. Also, with the question on the numbering, look up the 1962 US Tri-Service aircraft designation system. They wanted to consolidate numbering. In regards to the 1 or 2 seat question, the second seat on older planes like the F-14 had RIOs. Radar Intercept Officers. They took the workload off of the pilot. They controlled the radar, they find targets, they track targets, and the pilot fires the missile. The newer planes like the F/A-18F has a WSO. Weapons System Officer. They also take the workload off of the pilot. They control weapons systems and electronic warfare systems
Aircraft with big dish on top is an E -2 C Hawkeye E - Electronic C - Countermeasures it"s up there directing the fighters as to who else is out there. An eye in the sky.
In regard to the touch screen/knob discussion, keep in mind these young aviators have grown up playing video games and are very good at touch screens. In fact, being good at computer games are considered an asset for aviators.
9:15 AWACS was the other plane on the flight deck. It's used for forward air control and recon.
My grandfather used to fly these for the navy. He was also the FIRST PERSON ever to fire a sidewinder missle from a aircraft. He had a certificate trophy for doing it as well.
Cool what's his name so I can read about this test pilot?
Great video I’ve been waiting for this one! Keep it up!
They normally carry 80+ aircraft of various types.
Most of them are in hangers below deck.
From what I’ve heard the majority of new non-logistic military aircraft will be “optionally manned” meaning they could be piloted both remotely like a drone or by a person in the seat.
I start my day with your videos. I like listening to you brother. You are a cool and funny guy. Than you.
Aaron: Vermont 🇺🇸
Ps. Thanks for mentioning your mental health post military challenges 🙏
A single-seat fighter jet is a combat aircraft that has only one cockpit for one pilot, while a two-seat fighter jet is a combat aircraft that has two cockpits for two crew members. The difference between them depends on the role and design of the fighter jet. That what is it you circled on deck is an AWACS.
I was on the USS Theodore Roosevelt CVN-71 for 3 years, we carried 4 million gallons of JP-5, besides using it for the planes and helos, it was used for ballast.
There was an F20 it was basically an F5 with a F16 engine and Avionics. When aircraft are being developed they are usually given the YF designator. During it's development the F18 was actually called the YF 17.
I bet it would have hauled ass
if im not mistaken, older jets have two seats because the workload of flying and handeling the weapons was to high for one person. In newer jets computers do much of the work, that's why you don't see modern two seaters anymore. At least that's my guess
That’s the reason man. I remember when I was obsessed with being a pilot I always wanted to be the gunner. Now computers do that job and the pilots also have some advanced HUDs built into their helmets you don’t need that second pilot anymore.
Military News is a great channel....i've learned so much...
All Navy aircraft have folding wings and blades for space savings on the Carrier. the second seat depends on mission. takes some work load off the pilot, helps in combat theater awareness.
There was the F-4, F-5,F-14, F-15,F-16,F-18,F-22,F-111,F-117,F-35. The B-21 doesn’t mean it’s an upgrade from the B-2. The F-18 2 seater is used for the weapons officer, just like the F-15. On the F-16 the second seat is for training purposes.
Numbering of aircraft stared before WWII. P-40, P-47, P-51. P for Pursuit evolved into F for fighter. Numbers kept going up to F-100 starting the century series. F-111 was near the end and F-117 was the end. The numbering system for all aircraft went back to '1'.
The YF-17 combined the attack role with fighter into the F/A-18. The F-19 was a filled to deceive the USSR with the F-117. The F-20 Tigershark was an F-5 with the F-16 engine and avionics. The F-21 was the Israeli Kfir. then the YF-22 and YF-23 contest lead to the F-22. The F-35 skips numbers, coming from the X-35 from the X-series of aircraft.
Bombers went from B-70 to B-1, then B-2. The B-21 skipped 3 to 20, as the first bomber of the 21st Century, B-21
The A for Attack has died off due to the many multi-role fighters.
In fighter US history there are number reiterations form B1 to F117 B A= attack E=electronic, B= Bomber, F= fighter etc.
What you were circling with your mouse on the aircraft carrier deck is what they call the E-2D Hawkeye, early warning aircraft, their whole mission is to fly around and designate targets for carrier, strike packages and do early warning for the aircraft carrier. Beyond is own radar to track threats that could possibly harm the fleet… so they designate targets for the F/A-18’s and the F-35C’s to destroy or further identify.
This to me has been my fav fighter aircraft for quite some time. Those shoulder mounted tanks would've been awesome.
Some fighter designs never get produced, but they are assigned a number. You only see the aircraft that make it to production, so some numbers will be skipped over.
My understanding is that in high intensity contact the pilots is focused on flying be it aggression or evasive and the rear seat can focus on radar aerial or ground contact and engagement bombing ect
Maybe try the next video after few sips 😂😂
Love the content .
The GIB(guy in back) is usually the weapons officer
yep in the f/a-18 they are electronics warfare officer
@@icemanxidkp EWOs are in EA-18G Growler which is the electronics warfare version of the super hornet while normal super hornets have a Weapom Systems Officers WSO
The numbers are related to models created, and the chosen number is the one accepted by the military branch.
"X" stands for "Experimental", and, when the DoD asks for prototypes, they get an "X" number. They usually keep that number, even if that airframe is not chosen. But don't let it confuse you; the F-111 wasn't even a fighter, as it was designated as fighter to confuse the Soviets. Same with the F-117 Blackhawk.
React to the f14 tomcat next , the only aircraft that was able to beat the f15 most of the time. Also prototypes are not designated F, they are designated Ys. 2 seats are used for the 2nd person taking over radar and electronics if its a electronic warfare .Single seat can do the same things but its more stress on the pilot.
If I remember correctly, the FA-18 Hornet (YF-17) was the fighter that competed with the F-16 (YF-16) for the Air Force contract back in the 70s. BTW, I just checked and yeah, I was alive back then.😄
12:10 you're talking about the Datalink system, which was already present in the base F/A-18 before the super hornet upgrades, these systems are expansions onto the hornets avionics systems which indirectly upgrade it's datalink capabilities
Mate.. it’s by class and service. So the navy has their sequence of numbers. The Air Force has its numbering sequence as well. Depend on the mission tactics, bombers and joint. So that’s where the numbering comes from..
Dual seats means there’s a Rio or rear gunner and weapons officer, the pilot is responsible for shooting, the rear(Rio) picks and locks the targets so the pilot can fly and shoot
The other plane you saw on the A/C deck was an AWACS plane.
You watched TFE explain how these birds can fly while being loaded. The more thrust you have, the less lift you need. So you're basically pushing the plane forward/up the wings just help with lift upon takeoff
Sometimes it's nice to have a co-pilot for one to focus on flying/SA and the other to handle radar/weapons
The munitions hung under the wing are not impeding the air flow to the wings lifting surface, the photo (at time stamp 05:58) shows the flaps in the down position giving the appearance there is zero air flow.
The aircraft use circled with your pointer is an ES-3 Sentry with a rotating radar.
it was an E-2Hawkeye on the carrier the sentry is based on the old Boeing 707
“Because Freedom Fractions”! - The Fat Electrician
I also don't like how everything's becoming touch screen/digital (Like you said, in cars for the info displays), I like having the physical button or knob there since 1) You know where it is as you said, 2) It's faster to get to and 3) You won't miss when going over like a bump or smth.
Feel like it's the same way in a plane, imagine being under any amount of G and trying to tap on a touch screen.. I miss buttons more than enough times on my phone, would hate to do it in a jet LOL
Should do ones on the E-2, E-4 and V-22
You forgot the F-117 which was actually a bomber.
The second seat is for the weapons system operator, he operates the laser designator.
And the our aircraft carriers have 2 nuclear reactors.... they refuel once every 30 years
the air craft that you where hovering with your mouse at 9:19 is an AWCS the long version Airborne Warning and Control System
A rear seater is electronic warfare officer. Basically the more complex aircraft the 2nd officer
All Navy aircraft have to have folding wings or rotors (for helicopters) to save space when they’re parked to allow for more aircraft on the ship
So before they made the F-22 it was called the YF-22. They also were looking at the YF-23. So from what i understand once they use those number even if they never build them the number will not be used again for a certain number of years.
You should do a video on the f14 Tomcat.
The F-104 is a fairly mean fighter. Mean as in it looks like it's a danger to everyone around it and when it was exported to European NATO nations, it got the nickname, "The Widowmaker." That moniker was not in reference to any kind of engagements the pilots got into with enemies, but about the pilots themselves. If you want an absolute historic legend to look at, look into John Paul Stapp. He's a guy who was pretty nuts in his own right, but he got things done for the better.
They basicly restarted the numbering system for fighter aircraft back in the early 1960s. The F-4 Phantom was originally meant to be the F-110 Spectre. I believe the last P-series (Pursuit) might have been the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star which served in the Korean war and was redesignated F-80 in service. All the F-100s were the start of the supersonic era of aircraft beginning with the F-100 Sabre.
Of course, the F-117 Nighthawk is the last to use the century series numbering system but that was only to hide its actual purpose as the first stealth bomber. The F-111 Aardvark was the last actual fighter to use the system.
Why did the F-35 break the current numbering system? No clear answer was ever given that made sense to me. I hear that even Lockheed was referring to it internally as the F-24 prior to it being given the F-35 designation. I read once that it was because of the extensive leap in technology that the F-35 represented. But so will every other aircraft that will come after it including the NGAD and the Navy's FA-XX.
This also ignores just how much of a leap the F-22 was and it laid the groundwork both in new capabilities they wanted to pursue along with what issues to avoid for the F-35 (like the F-22 not being modularly upgradeable.) That seems like a weak reason to jump the numbering system.
Anyway, the F/A-18 Hornet was originally the YF-17 and lost the USAF pick to the YF-16. The Navy wasn't happy with the single-engine F-16 and chose the YF-17 instead. I feel the F/A-18 might be one of the most underappreciated workhorses in service.
Way back in the 1960s it was decided that US Military aircraft were to be numbered consecutively according to their mission code. For example the X-35 should have become the F-24 once it was accepted for service, since that was the next available designation number for fighter craft, instead it became the F-35.
Most planes follow the designation system but sometimes you get outliers like the F-117, SR-71 and KC-767. Usually a designer's reason for not using the next designation number is tied to the plane itself, like if it's based off a civilian aircraft or something like that. You can find out more if you look up the 'Tri-Service aircraft Designation System'
As far as the numbers go the f designation comes after a slue of prototypes. The reason the f111 and f117 are that is before they were commissioned before macnamara decided to reset it when he forced the air force and navy to standardise.
I’d love to see your thought on the tornados there were a few variants before the typhoon was the raf intercepter/ fighter
Thank you!
When you have the laser guided bombs you need the second seat for someone to guide the bomb
There were proto types in between each fighter or bomber before an individual number plane was actually chosen to go active. 90% maybe 2 or 3 were developed and hit dead ends at various stages. Either requirements of the AC changed or they developed air stream problems at certain speeds or control problems, weapon delivery problems. They get shit canned, chopped up and destroyed. Sometimes the take certain models like the F5 and some major changes occur and they become a different variant of the base aircraft but totally different in characteristics and purpose of service. Chase planes for NASA, Hurricane plane. Depending the severity of changes the modex can change for difference branch uses. F4 B F4 J F4 N F4 S and RF4 -B are all Navy requirements so they are built for Navy carrier usage. F4 C F4 D F4 E and on are Air Force variants. But when they go outsid of military use, the change designation and have different uses. NOA, NASA , CIA, and on and on. They have stuff built we won’t know about for 30 more years. It truly is unbelievable the Black Programs that exist.
F-12 would have been used if the prototype YF-12 interceptor variant of the A-12 pre-Blackbird
F-13 wasn't used because of superstition.
F-17 designation is missing in the fleet is a result of the aircraft's transformation into the F/A-18
F-19 is a skipped designation, in favor of F-20 for the Northrop F-5G Tiger shark at Northrop’s request to avoid confusion with the Soviet MiG-19. Project was abandoned in 1986.
F-20 did not achieve sales success because the USAF wasn't interested to begin with.
F-21 is a variant of the F-16 designed for the Indian Air Force
F-23 would have been used if the Northrop YF-23 won the ATF "Advanced Tactical Fighter" program
That's why there is a second person on the plane.
I know how much you like that Gatlin gun. You need to see the on the A-10. It Epic!
All US Military planes are in the same number sequence per Generation or family. The F100 seris was established the same time period as f101, f105 etc. Considered Gen 3. USAF. The F4,A4 ,A3, F8, ETC Us Navy, , The Gen 4 F15, F16 USAF, F/14, F/A18 US NAVY. The reason there is gaps in the numbers between the different generations is because there were numbers given to competing aircraft before one was selected. The F-16 was in competition with the f-17 to see which aircraft the Air Force wanted. F35 is the outlier.
Bombers B1, B2 outlier B52
F-Fighter
A Attack
F/A Fighter/Attack
B- Bomber
EA electronic attack
The letters at the end of the numbers are the different series of that aircraft. F/18 E/F super is the only 2seat. The block on the end is upgraded mod
The plane you asked about is an AWACS Airccraft it Flys overwatch and coordinates battles
Two pilots simply splits the load of duties. Especially helpfull for strike or CAP missions where one pilot can focuse on flying whilst the other can look for ground targets with the targeting pod. Not an easy task when working on a ever changing battlefeild.
The MIG 21 Fishbed would be worth taking a gander, Solid aircraft from vietnam era used world wide even still today.
Time for a throwback. You should check out the Me-262 and Me-163. When these came out it was like trying to fight off aliens for the allies
The jets are designated by mission design and series. For instance an F-16D is a fighter of the 16th design series D. Some jets don't make it to production hence the skip in numbers. The YF-23 Blackwidow would've became the F-23 had it beat out the Raptor and there would've been no F-22.
F/A means fighter/ attack. The F-111 was a Navy product the didnt work to well for them. It has be used as a bomber in lybia. A radar jammer in iraq E/F111. Terrain following radar and fast as all hell. The is a video on TH-cam if you look up air war in iraq. Great stuff. Oh the personin the back of the FA 18 takes care of the search and track and helps employ the weapons.
1:45 You can actually watch a video called "Aircraft Designations Explained" by Not What You Think.
Just a little suggestion if you wanna learn what (almost) every letter means on aircrafts
I feel u bro. I'm a bit dyslexic too
For perspective, there are about 8760 hours in a year. Wheee
When you asked if they were all hornets yes they were all hornets
Thats an AWAC plane.
It's like a flying info distributor. That disk on the top is radar of some type.
Just saw the other day that they're about to retire the AWAC planes for something better.
The body is a lift body, adding lift that the wings can’t provide!
Theres multiple reasons why they say attacking a carrier battle group is :poking the hornet's nest"..... :D
You should see a video of our larger aircraft carriers.
If I may suggest another channel worth viewing for carrier operations is called Growler Jams. He's a current naval aviator and posts on board vids
So the 2 seat versions are used for 2 things training and Electronic warfare in a dedicated version called the Growler. And with there full load out i would not call it flying as there just using there 2 giant turbines to beat the air into submission. And there are around 75 fighters on board a carrier mostly Super hornets but they are starting to receive f-35's
the hornets are divided into two distinct forms The legacy hornet Which is the A/B/C/D variants and the Super hornet which is the E/F sometimes also called the rhino because of a protrusion on the underside of the jet that is unique to the Super hornet. Two seats allows the WSO who sits behind the pilot to keep constant tabs on his screens for battle space awareness and control the ground strike weapons and the targeting pod while the pilot fly's the plane and can worry about air targets. The plane with the dome on it is a E-2 Hawkeye the dome visible is a 360 degree sweep radar to control aircraft and alert them of incoming threats and electronic warfare. The block 3 touch screen is built for future upgrade and integration ability to add new apps. You have to do a video on the electronic warfare version of the hornet the EA-18G Growler which can jam radar.